ABSTRACT: Ezekiel’s temple vision, difficult as it is to understand, fits within the large message the prophet spoke to God’s exiled people: Their shameful sin had led to shameful loss; nevertheless, God would restore them for his name’s sake and dwell with them again. Ezekiel’s temple communicates in symbolic form God’s purpose to make a new covenant with his people, return them to a new land, and dwell with them forever.
For our ongoing series of feature articles for pastors and Christian leaders, we asked Iain Duguid (PhD, University of Cambridge), professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, to explain the theological significance of Ezekiel’s temple vision.
TherearemanypassagesoftheBiblethatarehardtounderstand—thegenealogiesthatfillthefirstninechaptersof1Chronicles,forinstance,ortheentirebookofLeviticus,withitssacrificesandrituals.SomeofthesedifficultpassagesmaytemptustowonderifPaulreallyintendedtoincludetheminthe“allScripture”thatisprofitableforteaching,reproof,correction,andtraininginrighteousness(2Timothy3:16).Ezekiel40–48wouldcertainlyfallwithi
